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Published: June 13th 2017
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Geo: -16.4958, 145.467
Thursday, August 11, 2016
We dropped the minibus off at Andrew parking and were driven to the airport for the 2hr flight to Cairns where we picked up a Toyota Camery ( 2 happy drivers now) the car came with complementary Garmin sat nav I've always had TomTom units but had heard good reports of Garmin's units so it'd be interesting to be able to compare the two units.
We drove up to Port Douglas stopping off at a McDonald's on the way as there was no food served on the plane flying up. We soon discovered that again the sat nav maps were over a year old (not good) but more worrying was the fact that there seem to be a terrible delay between the maps syncing with our position so that turnings could be a minute after you'd passed them, frustrating or what. Having overshot the turning for our hotel we did a series of left turns to come back again, ignored the sat nav and just turned in the drive.
Our apartment was only a 5 min walk from the beach so off we went for the kids to let off some steam, we
could only stay for an hour or so because tonight is a special surprise treat for everyone, as usual Sophie couldn't cope with a surprise she was relentless in trying to guess what it was but we weren't telling anyone. The coach picked us up at 19:15 and so we set off for a fantastic evening at "The Flames of the Forest Aboriginal Cultural Experience" Sophie didn't believe we were really going into the rainforest! The coach gingerly made its way into the forest in pitch black darkness and came to a halt in a small clearing, the look on the kids' faces was brilliant.
As we were led up a track, again in darkness, we suddenly heard a whistling, someone up ahead was whistling and then all of a sudden we could make out the shape of a figure, dim lighting came on and there stood an Aborigine in complete amazement at seeing us the kids were also in complete denial. He asked what we were doing in his forest and introduced himself inviting us to follow him for something to eat. As we walked up the dimly lit track we walked into a clearing with subdued lighting
hanging from the highest trees and surrounding bushes and shrubs, tables were set out and all of a sudden waiting staff turned up with pre-dinner alcoholic and soft drinks followed by platters of canapés of roasted eggplant with red pepper, crocodile on cucumber and others. Jacob wouldn't try any at first which is unusual for him as he's an adventurous eater normally, however he soon changed his mind and thoroughly enjoyed everything that was offered. Sophie was worried that her mum would "go nuts"
Once seated the original Aborigine sat down with his didgeridoo and introduced his brother and started to regale us with pieces of their remarkable culture in a setting where they adventured as children. As we ate we were treated to a cultural evening of, storytelling, music, inspiring didgeridoo playing and mesmerizing, haunting song. all whilst being served a seven dish plattered banquet dinner at our table seated under a magnificent, black, silk lined marquee highlighted by sparkling, handmade crystal chandeliers. Jacob and Sophie were the only children there and behaved impeccably, it was an absolute pleasure to watch them eat, and take in the haunting music, they were spellbound with the two Aborigine brothers
telling the story of how the Platypus came to be, along with stories of their childhood in the forest. As the evening slowly came to a close we were invited to take photos with the two brothers.
All too soon the evening was finally over, but I know it's been an experience that everyone will remember for the rest of their lives
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